Page 46

Frontiers November 2013 Issue

PART OF A STRONG TEAM
BENGIE SECUSKIE
Aviation Life Support technician
Boeing Test & Evaluation Flight Operations
Engineering, Operations & Technology
Tukwila, Wash.
In 2009, I was in the U.S. Army and
stationed in Fort Lewis, Wash. Preparing
for separation from the military and for
life as a civilian, my goal was to join the
Boeing team. The company has a large
presence in the area and Boeing would
have been a great next step.
Having worked primarily on helicopters
in the Army, I lacked the experience for contracting
jobs supporting the Navy, Air Force
and Marines. Alternatively, I was picked up on
the Presidential VH-71 Program. Six months
after I started, however, the program was terminated
and everyone was laid off. That
was my first eye-opener for life as a civilian.
I was unemployed when a position in
Life Support came available in Boeing. I
applied through the Boeing website, and
shortly after that, the hiring manager
called to speak to me about my resume.
He liked my attitude and resume, but I
still lacked the experience to qualify.
For the next two years, as I worked for
military contractors around the country,
multiple job openings at Boeing came
available. I just wasn’t interview material.
But that Boeing hiring manager stuck
with me, and guided me in the things I
needed to know to become experienced
enough to be a part of his team. Eventually
he hired me as a contractor through a
company supporting the Navy pilot training
program—my first job in fixed-wing aircraft.
This is where I got my experience with
parachutes, life rafts, flight helmets, oxygen
masks. As a contract hire for Boeing, I
realized even more that being with Boeing
was what I wanted. Learning more and
proving myself a valuable team member, I
was hired this year as a full-time Boeing
employee. Now I inspect pilots’ flight gear
for programs, including the P-8 and Airborne
Warning and Control System aircraft.
I often think about how someone I never
met stayed with me to get me where I am
now. I will always be grateful for the time
he took—time he didn’t have to take—to
bring me aboard such a great company. n
PHOTO: BOB FERGUSON/BOEING
46 BOEING FRONTIERS / NOVEMBER 2013